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I found 1/8, 1/4, 1/2 and 3/4 I believe - some may have been other brands. I think the thin one is 3M and I might have found it in Michaels - though I might have looked at it there and bought it on Amazon. I'm thrifty like that!

Bought the Martha Stewart tape, cut a strip of the 1/4", and placed it in a demisphere mold (I can't imagine doing this in one that is more "enclosed," such as a dome). The first time I added colored cocoa butter with a finger. It got under the tape everywhere, total mess. Second time:

On the second try I pressed the tape as firmly against the polycarbonate as I could, pressed it again, then sprayed with airbrush. It's the closest I have ever come to success with striping, but obviously, not good enough. The cocoa butter seems to bond together so much that it comes off in chunks (as paint does sometimes). Perhaps the tape should be removed when the c.b. is still a bit wet? If it weren't obvious already, I am not Melissa Coppel.

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you definitely don't want to wait until the CB has set, IMO. I'd get that tape of as soon as you can after it's stopped looking liquid. Well, if I had the patience to sit there and screw around with tape like that

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I'm making some chocolated for Valentines Da, and so far I've been really happy with how they are turning out (thank you EZTemper). A couple of friends of mine work part time at a local cidery, and they asked me to make some chocolates for gift baskets they are offering for Valentines Day.

This one does not photograph super well, it's more sparkly in real life. It's filled with apple caramel.

This one is bourbon and dark chocolate ganache.

I think this is the first time ever I have had multiple molds in one day without a single chocolate that didn't stick!!! I'd love to take the credit, but I think the EZTemper is responsible. Regardless the people at the cidery were thrilled.

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Over here on the 'How do they do that?' bonbon thread is a video about various decorating techniques. I picked up a Dremel from Amazon and some foam brushes and I was playing today.

Those are really nice. I don't think I'm going to invest in a Dremel right now but I'm considering channeling Red Green and Tim The Tool Man Taylor and seeing what I can do with my drill and a few brushes.

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Those are really nice. I don't think I'm going to invest in a Dremel right now but I'm considering channeling Red Green and Tim The Tool Man Taylor and seeing what I can do with my drill and a few brushes.

Indeed and with the size of the drill chuck you probably wouldn't need to coax the little plastic piece out of the wooden handle.

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I was pretty happy with how these turned out. I used a toothbrush and my gloved finger to flick the black, then dropped in the yellow and hit it with an air gun (still no airbrush for me). Dark chocolate ganache infused with lemon and black pepper—you know, in case the picture wasn’t self-explanatory .

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Getting ready for Niagara. We had one mold stick badly (one that is difficult to polish - not sure how to rectify this), but I mostly used the medium sized half spheres I got from Jim, and they came out well.

Blue is apple caramel, striped is passion fruit and mango caramel.

We have a couple more trays of shells ready to fill, and will make one more flavor if we have time before Niagara (I’m much slower at this than you pros) but I’m relieved to have something out of the molds.

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I was reading Greweling's Chocolates and Confections and he says that when molding bonbons you may need to allow the chocolate to sit in the mold anywhere from 2-5 minutes before inverting in order to produce desired and thickness and for the shell to be thick enough for the chocolate to contract from the mold, but in all of the videos I see, the chocolatiers invert the molds right away. Is this because the chocolate has sufficient viscosity and doesn't need to sit in the mold?

I have found that with the chocolate I use (Guittard 72%), if I invert the mold right away, the chocolate really doesn't contract enough but if I leave it for 3 minutes I don't have any problems. I'm just trying to understand the theory behind letting the chocolate sit in the mold, why I never see this technique in videos, and how you get thin shells to contract sufficiently from the molds. Thanks!!

New useful shop toy acquired today: a milk frother. This small device is perfect for stirring pigment into cocoa butter when you are making your own colors, or need to mix up ones that have settled. It makes no splatter like a hand held blender and is super easy to clean - just put it in a mug of hot soapy water... I picked one up on Amazon for under $20US with a stand, thinking it might be good, and it was great! Because the cocoa butter has a thicker viscosity than milk, it doesn't froth it, but does an excellent job of blending without the mess.

I am someone who used to hate milk chocolate (and white as well) because they are always too sweet for me.
but recently I got to try Valrhona's Bahibe 46% and it's really good; creamy and not sickeningly sweet.

After Valrhona has changed my mind, I'm on a quest to explore the world of milk chocolate.
Are there any alternatives as good or even better? what's your preference when it comes to milk chocolate?

Hello there everyone! I am a new chocolatier and I am looking for someone who has some time to dedicate helping me set up my new business. I have questions mostly on recipes and equipment. Is anyone available?

Who here hand dips chocolates, either with their actual hand, or with a fork?

I have a side job working with a woman who hand dips everything with her fingers in a puddle of chocolate on a sheet of parchment. She's super fast at it, I tried it but it felt so messy and awkward. I have done a little fork-dipping, so today dipped 300+ cookies with a fork and remembered why I hate fork dipping.

So, anyone have any pointers, tricks, or favorite dipping forks that don't make your hand go numb? Today I used a dinner fork, I didn't have my actual chocolate dipping forks, but they have really thin metal handles that are hard to hold onto and horrible. I need like the Good Grips version for people with arthritis and pastry chefs who have done too much piping ...